Yekhanurov said relations between the two countries need to be more "pragmatic," adding it was "not normal" that his predecessor, Yuliya Tymoshenko, never held a bilateral meeting with Fradkov.

"There have been no meetings between the prime ministers (of Ukraine and Russia) this year," Yekhanurov said. "This is not normal and now we should work more intensively to catch up on what was left undone, and also look objectively at those problems that we have now."